Who Has Done Weight Watchers?

[penguin]

I've put on 20 lbs in the last two months on this stupid gluten challenge, on top of the 35 I already needed to lose. This is not good

Anyway, I've decided to start Weight Watchers at the same time I go gluten-free again, and DH will too (he hates that his clothes keep shrinking ). I do have many questions that I can't seem to find many answers for, it's like a cult! You don't know what's in the ritual kool-aid without forking over all your Earthly possessions...

- Is it easy to lose the standard 2-4 lbs per week?

- How do points work exactly, and what the heck are activity points?

- Do you prefer meetings or online?

- What happens at meetings? What's the benefit?

- Flex plan or core plan?

- What all is on the core plan?

- What foods have 0 points?

- Is it easy to do gluten-free?

Please help, I fit into hardly any of my clothes anymore! Of course, it's another month and some change before I'll be on the diet, and I'm not dieting at all now. I'm eating all the gluten crap I'll never be able to eat again, so I'm allowing myself to gain the weight knowing it'll come back off gluten-free, and that I'll never be able to pig out at taco bell again. Cutting out entire categories of food, and all fast food certainly helps dieting!

I'm proud of myself though, I did almost 20 mins on the Gazelle this morning. I'm anemic so it kind of wiped me out a bit, and thankfully I didn't work my heart too hard, but I've recovered!

Much appreciated.

[zip2play]

I have done both the Points and the Core plan. I have severe hypoglycemia, which is why I finally ditched both plans. But, for those that WW's works for, it is a GREAT PLAN.

- Is it easy to lose the standard 2-4 lbs per week?

I think, depending on how much a person needs to lose, 2 pounds is not difficult to obtain. The first couple weeks you will lose more.

- How do points work exactly, and what the heck are activity points?

The points are figured using the calorie total, with fiber and fat. They give you the slide rule to figure points for any and all foods. All you need is the nutritional information. Which you can easily get for almost anything. The Activity points are points you earn in addition to your daily allowance. They have to be used the day you do the activity. For instance, your 20 minutes on the machine would probably be 2 extra points.

- Do you prefer meetings or online?

I did meetings. I found the support helpful.

- What happens at meetings? What's the benefit?

They go over menu ideas and you can get tons of emotional support plus any and all questions can be answered.

- Flex plan or core plan?

It depends on what works best for you. I did points when it was introduced and Core when it was introduced. Neither worked for me due to my hypoglycemia. I liked both plans. It just depends on which works better with your lifestyle.

- What all is on the core plan?

Core plan has a list of FREE type foods. You can have them all until satisfied. Some things are limited. For instance, only 1 helping of cereal a day (which for you, won't be core...because the ones you can eat aren't allowed as free), 1 potato a day and I think one helping of whole wheat noodles (again, not for you since not gluten-free). Veggies are on the list as are most fruits. Lean meats too. Anything extra, you figure the points on. You have 35 extra points a week. You bank them or use so many daily, your choice.

- What foods have 0 points?

Veggies have 0 points and such. Lost of fruit have only 1 point. You can get a lot of ideas at your meetings.

- Is it easy to do gluten-free?

I would imagine you can. I didn't know I was gluten intolerant when I did mine. WW is all about flexibility. So YOU make the plan work for you.

Good luck girl! You can win this battle.

Monica

[penguin]

Why didn't it work for you with hypoglycemia? I'm hypoglycemic too, and I don't know why being able to eat veggies and lean meats all you wanted wouldn't work?

Thanks for your help!!!

[plantime]

- Is it easy to lose the standard 2-4 lbs per week?

- How do points work exactly, and what the heck are activity points?

- Do you prefer meetings or online?

- What happens at meetings? What's the benefit?

- Flex plan or core plan?

- What all is on the core plan?

- What foods have 0 points?

- Is it easy to do gluten-free?

I am on Weight Watchers now. I do the Flex plan, as the Core plan has too many foods that I cannot have.

1. I lose between 1/2 and 2 pounds a week, most weeks.

2. Points are a simpler way of counting calories. Activity points are extra calories that you can earn by doing physical activity, such as your walk on the gazelle would have earned you one point.

3. My schedule is hectic enough, I only do online.

4. Never been to a meeting, so I can't answer that one.

5. Core is mainly natural, real foods, not processed, no counting required. Flex lets you eat whatever you want, you just have to count the points (calories).

6. A lot of foods I am allergic to: chicken, lean meats, fruits, vegetables

7. All uncooked veggies with no dips or dressings

8. Yes! This is the only plan I have found that allows me to adhere strictly to all of my intolerances.

If you cruise the Weight Watchers message boards, go to the Inspiration Soup board and look me up, I am hescominsoon! The message boards are free, btw, and on the Soup, we don't care if you are a paying member or not, we will try to answer your questions.

If you work your diet carefully, WW will work with hypoglycemia. On the Soup board, we have several that have sugar problems, and still manage to do the WW plan. You just have to pay attention to your body, just as you do for celiac. For what it's worth, WW helped me pull back from the edge of type II diabetes. Between losing a few pounds, watching what I ate, and exercising more, my insulin levels backed off and stabilized.

[zip2play]

Why didn't it work for you with hypoglycemia? I'm hypoglycemic too, and I don't know why being able to eat veggies and lean meats all you wanted wouldn't work?

Well, it is the other stuff that they suggest that makes my bloodsugar a mess. The Points system is based on high fiber items, which tend to be carb type foods. IF I could decide all I needed to live is meat and veggies it would be fine. But I get bored easy. I switched things up and everything, I either got bored or had bloodsugar issues.

Monica

[AndreaB]

I did weight watchers in college when they didn't have all this stuff. I lost 20 odd pounds but went beserk after the program because of all the food restrictions...I gained back 40. The thing you have to remember if you do the program is to develop a lifestyle change you can live with so you don't gain it all back. I haven't done any weight loss program since then but have lost 30 pounds since I got married...eating a little more healthier. Of course with eating all this meat again that may change but I lost 18 pounds with just cutting all the sugar out that I could...gotta work on the sugar thing again although it hasn't caused me to gain weight yet. I can probably thank the baby for that.

[Sadie the Goat]

I did. I tried Flex and then Core. I liked core much better. I ran out of money, though, so I don't go any more. I thought core was much better for me. I thought it was easy to do WW with C. The diet works really well with mass quantities of veggies and lean meats and fish. go fig, what we should be eating anyway. Low carb. It seems to work, but I have found a gluten-free bakery here that is thigh expanding great, hence my still not shrinking girth. WW works, but you have to tailor it to your needs. Both plans will work, you just have to do the research.

I also have heard that one of the glorious by-products of C is a whacked metabolism. A friend of mine is stuck in high gear and has to eat 2k cal/day. I think mine is stuck in low gear. I think I could reasonable do 500 cal/day and still function pretty well. I also think there is another issue. My BP is great, blood sugars fabulous, heart rate is good, thyroid function is dandy (history of problmes on Mom's side, but I keep close tabs on it). In short, almost everything is great except I am still tired, oat-meal brained and still waaaaay fat.

I don't get it.

[jnclelland]

For what it's worth, I have hypoglycemic issues as well, and I've been happily doing the South Beach Diet for about 2 months, and have lost 10 pounds so far. (Would love to lose 15 more, but I don't know whether or not that will turn out to be realistic.) It's specifically geared towards helping with blood sugar and cholesterol issues, and since it's fairly limited on grains anyway, I've had no trouble whatsoever adapting it to be gluten-free.

Other advantages:

- No weekly fees. I bought the main book and one other recipe book and that's it. There's an official web site you can join for a fee of something like $5 per week, but there's a great FREE site at Open Original Shared Link, and I've found lots of good info there, not to mention support.

- I'm AMAZED at how stable my blood sugar has been. Snacks are encouraged, but optional after the first two weeks, and lately most days I never get hungry for my afternoon snack. I have NEVER before been able to go from lunch to dinner without eating something in between, so this has been a pleasant surprise.

- It doesn't feel like a diet to me. It's a healthy plan of eating for the long haul (I've never eaten so many vegetables in my entire life!), and I almost never have cravings for off-plan foods.

Okay, back to your regularly scheduled Weight Watchers discussion.

Jeanne

[shellhoo]

I have been on the core program and the flex program. I am on flex now. I only do online. I find it is very easy to follow boing gluten free. You pretty much just stick to 5 fruits, 3 dairy, and you have soo many points in a day. You can eat whatever you want as long as you track points. I did the meetings about 5 years ago, and it didn't work for me. Now, I just started the online program 5 weeks ago, and I know that it's going to work this time!!

Good luck!!

[TinkerbellSwt]

I am not currently following WW, even though without a doubt I should be doing something. I can tell you that my mother was for a while and she had a WW cookbook that she got at a meeting. It was for both plans. She gave it to me. And I can tell you from experience that most receipes in it are gluten free. There are a few that are not, but more are! They are really tasty too!!

You can probably get most of these online too.

Just something to look for. Hope it helps you some.

[penguin]

I'm doing it online, and so far so good. The little online thingy is mad at me that I lost 6 lbs in a week, since it should be slower, but that was the first week so of course it's higher.

So far, I'm finding it pretty easy!

[plantime]

Ooh, Chelsea! I'm so glad you are doing online! Have you checked out any of the message boards? I am hescominsoon, and can usually be found on the Inspiration Soup board.

[tiffjake]

Hey Chelsea! Woohoo! 6 pounds! I am on (what is it now, week three?) and I am down 6. It is a steady 2 per week for me...slow as they go....anyway, I like the meetings. I get good info and ask questions. It also takes the stress off of me to weigh every day, cause I know the only one that "counts" is at the meeting. Makes me calmer.....

Anyway, the activity points are a big help for me. When I do splurge (like I did when we went to lunch!) I will swim laps for 30 min, and at my weight, that is 7 points, so I am back on track with my points for the day.

And I like the points better than the core, cause I can make food like lasagna, and just add up the points for the ingredients and servings and not worry about it not being "core". I think this will be super helpful while traveling. Also, eating what I want, while counting points, is teaching me what is a regular amount for the day, and I like that. I can eat my gluten-free brownies, just not the whole pan! LOL!

Anyway, sounds like you are doing so great!!! Woohoo! Tiff

ps-losing more when you start b/c you have more to lose is NOT the case for me! ha! my body is refusing to let go!

[mari-lyn]

For what it's worth, I have hypoglycemic issues as well, and I've been happily doing the South Beach Diet for about 2 months, and have lost 10 pounds so far. (Would love to lose 15 more, but I don't know whether or not that will turn out to be realistic.) It's specifically geared towards helping with blood sugar and cholesterol issues, and since it's fairly limited on grains anyway, I've had no trouble whatsoever adapting it to be gluten-free.

Other advantages:

- No weekly fees. I bought the main book and one other recipe book and that's it. There's an official web site you can join for a fee of something like $5 per week, but there's a great FREE site at Open Original Shared Link, and I've found lots of good info there, not to mention support.

- I'm AMAZED at how stable my blood sugar has been. Snacks are encouraged, but optional after the first two weeks, and lately most days I never get hungry for my afternoon snack. I have NEVER before been able to go from lunch to dinner without eating something in between, so this has been a pleasant surprise.

- It doesn't feel like a diet to me. It's a healthy plan of eating for the long haul (I've never eaten so many vegetables in my entire life!), and I almost never have cravings for off-plan foods.

Okay, back to your regularly scheduled Weight Watchers discussion.

Jeanne

Jeanne, Your message about South Beach diet was interesting as I have been an advocate of it for 3 years. My spouse came home one day and asked me to look at it and get a copy (I am a dietitian). I started a Weight Management Group using his methods..and he was asked to the annual Dietetic Assoc. meeting in St. Louis last year and he signed by book. I figured they would not have had him there if they did not endorse what he was promoting.

I have looked around the message board off and on as I started a support group at the hospital I work at. My mom's twin sister was diagnosed 50 years ago at Mayo with celiac disease, and I have niece with celiac disease. A doctor in this small community has celiac disease and so there is a little more awareness about it...and thus, more people being Dx.

I have been looking more because I am suspicious that I have DH - had the blood work yesterday. Anyway, looked on this board because of my struggle to lose and maintain weight loss and also (despite this) was recently certified by the Am. Dietetic Assoc in Adult Weight Management.

I find, with myself and people I work with, that 1. Breakfast with a good source of protein is a must. 2. frequent high protein, good fat snacks help some people. ...not to mention portion control and exercise. Anyway, just wanted to put my support in for the SB diet.

[jayhawkmom]

Not only did I lost 70 lbs on Weight Watchers, I went to work for them once I made my goal, and reached lifetime. So, I found both plans to work for me. However, Flex worked better. I needed the accountability of the meetings. I would "cheat" if I had to weigh myself. Core wasn't yet in place while I was losing, but once it went into "beta" - as a staff member I "had" to try it for 2 weeks.

I kept the weight off until I got pregnant with my 3rd child. At that point, the hours no longer meshed with my schedule and I had to quit. But, I still go to meetings when I can.

I think it's a terrific program, but whether you do it online or in a meeting room really depends on your personality. Since I have small children, I love the "ME" time the meeting room offers, as I don't bring my kids with me.

Lots of luck!

[hapi2bgf]

I need some help. I joined weight watchers last week. I lost my 1.6 lbs for the week and spent most of my time starving. I mean beyond the normal range of hungry. I am on the Flex Plan. What am I doing wrong?? I am wrinting everything down and trying to make healthy choices, but I am hungry. Any thoughts?

I know I exactly how I got into the postition of weighing too much. Bad food choices etc. Now I can't seem to figure out what I can eat that will fill me up on 20 points a day! I have called for help and I have spoken to the leader of the meeting in person. Neither of them are much help.

Just really frustrated about the up coming wedding I have to attend and wish I could drop some weight.

Thanks

[BostonCeliac]

Congrats on the 1.6!!

My savior was the 1 point popable popcorn - I think the 94 or 98% fat free regular size bags - and it's good! That used to really fill me up between lunch & dinner and it was only a point! I actually found that if I worked out too, I would be less hungry, so that was a good thing after work.

I also really enjoyed the Kashi Bars (orange packet) that were two points, they were delicious & filling. Something else that I still do now - is take a little tiny serving of pasta (gluten-free of course) just like 1 or 2 points worth, and cut up zuccini & squash into long vertical strips, sautee that with onion & spray butter (0pts) and add it in with the pasta & homemade tomato sauce for almost no points and that was a very filling big low point dinner!!

Good luck -- for me doing WW it took like 3 weeks to not feel famished...then I was OK.

[dundun1021]

Hello,

I am pretty new. I am following the core program. Hopefully I drop some pounds from this diet. I would like to know if brown rice flour is a core food? And does anyone know of a Apple Crisp recipe made gluten free and sugar free? Thanks for you help.

[BostonCeliac]

Hello,

I am pretty new. I am following the core program. Hopefully I drop some pounds from this diet. I would like to know if brown rice flour is a core food? And does anyone know of a Apple Crisp recipe made gluten free and sugar free? Thanks for you help.

Hey -- I have not followed the Core plan - only the old Flex plan, but I found this short list of core foods:

- Vegetables and fruits

- Soups (non-creamy)

- Whole Wheat Pasta, Brown Rice, Potatoes and Grains

- High Fiber and other cereals without added sugar

- Lean Meats, poultry, fish and eggs

- Fat-Free Milk Products

- Healthy Oils

- Condiments

- Coffee, Tea and sugar-free beverages

As for the Apple Crisp recipe - I would search on this site & maybe Google it, I don't know of one without sugar, but the gluten free isn't too hard to do with gluten-free flour.... Good luck!